Blonde Ambition
by Smokey-eyed-Beauty
Summary: Written for LJ community 10whores. 10 oneshots about Cagalli in 10 different pairings. Current pair: CagalliDearka
1. A Very Long Waltz

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Go sue someone else.**

**So, I'll try to make this quick. The 10whores thing is just some writing challenge that I picked up because I thought it looked like fun. What I have to do is write ten fics about the same character (in my case Cagalli) with a different character. (Golly, I hope that made sense). Anyways, this is pretty experimental and most the pairings are total crack so read at your own risk, ok?**

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"There you are, Princess," Gilbert Dullindal greeted warmly, "I was wondering where you'd run off to this evening."

Cagalli gave the chairman a questioning look and took a sip of her champagne.

"En-hunh," she responded, uninterested. The older man laughed at her antics.

"That's a lovely dress you have on," he said, pointing to the blonde girl's lavish red gown, "though it's a bit too mature for you, if you don't mind my saying so."

Cagalli took another sip of her champagne.

"Say what you want," she muttered, sounding strained.

Gilbert ignored her politically incorrect response and extended his hand towards her.

"If you wouldn't mind," he began, "I would be greatly honored if you were to do me the courtesy of putting down your glass and joining me for a dance, Princess."

The blonde girl pondered his proposal for a moment, and then downed what was left of her drink.

"Please don't call me Princess," she said, accepting his offer.

Placing her girl's hand in his gentleman's one, Cagalli let Gilbert lead her out onto the dance floor, earning intrigued (and somewhat outraged) glances from the few men who had asked her to dance earlier, namely one Alex Dino. Paying them no attention, the young representative followed her partner to the center of the ballroom.

A waltz began to play and the two danced.

"Is this Mozart?" asked Cagalli as they danced, trying to concentrate on the tune.

"I really wouldn't know," replied Dullindal with a shrug, "though some may adore their Mozart and their Bach, I've never felt too much about Classical music." He paused, suddenly, causing the blonde girl to wonder.

"Is everything alright, Chairman?" she questioned.

"Yes, yes, everything is fine Princess," he assured the girl, making her sulk at the word 'princess', "I was just pondering the idea that the Cagalli I know doesn't care to difference Mozart from Lacus Clyne, isn't that right Miss _Attha_?"

The Orb representative felt herself flush. She glared at the older man.

"You saying that I'm too stupid to recognize great classics from pop songs?" she demanded dangerously, but under her breath so that no one else could hear.

At this, Gilbert stopped dancing, and stopped Cagalli with him. He put his hands on her shoulders protectively and looked her in the eye.

"Of course not," he said.

The young girl nodded, her amber eyes wide. The older man sounded sincere. She knew the chairman through both business and reputation (as she imagined he knew her) and his most outstanding trait by far was his forever-deceiving personality – it was unheard of him to act like this. Part of Cagalli wanted to trust Gil and believe in what he said, while another part of her, the quick to judge part, was against it and warned her to stay one her toes. Though this ball had supposedly nothing to do with politics, there were still many politicians here and the game was still on.

"There are two sides to you, Princess," declared Dullindal, sounding like himself again. Removing his hands from the blonde girls shoulder, he took hold of her hand and they began to dance again. "Though I don't believe I need to name them out to you for after all, no one knows you better than you do yourself."

Cagalli stared at skeptically.

"Don't pretend to know me so well," she spat. Gilbert smirked, frustrating the Orb representative. "Don't mock me!" she exclaimed, 'forgetting' herself.

"I am neither pretending to know you or mocking you," defended the more experienced politician, "if anything, I am mocking myself."

"Yourself…?" questioned the confused girl.

"Yes," answered the Chairman, "I like to pride myself in thinking that I have a gift when it comes to understanding people, but sometimes I take it a little too far and then I end up mocking myself."

"Right…"

"However, I don't believe that I was wrong when I, for lack of a better word, accused you of having to sides to yourself…or was I Princess?" Cagalli glared at the older man, silently telling him to back off. The Chairman however, wasn't fazed. "For example, just a moment ago, when we stopped dancing, you were waging a war within yourself, weren't you?"

The blonde girl, whose face had been vivid with different reactions all evening, became stony and emotionless – the way it only did when someone had understood her too well for her personal liking.

"I take it I was right," whispered Dullindal, a proud smile well hidden behind a kinder one.

He and Cagalli finished their dance in silence. It had been a long waltz.

"I suppose you'll want to return to your corner and champagne," said Gilbert. Cagalli nodded and smiled slightly, he did the same. Suddenly, he lowered his head and kissed her forehead. "Don't drink too much," he advised her before letting her scamper off.

It was only a few days later, when she found herself ballroom dancing all alone, that Cagalli realized how much she had enjoyed the evening.

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**...And what kind of a fanfic writer would I be if I didn't ask for a review?**


	2. Escape

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Cagalli is twenty and she's just run away from home for what seems like the millionth time in her life, but it's the first time she's done anything like since she was appointed head representative. And you know what? It feels good. 

She's already promised herself a million times that she'll be back in her office first thing tomorrow mourning signing papers and assuring everybody that she wasn't kidnapped by some idiot terrorist. That mourning, she called in sick, but she knows that's not going to change a thing. Her ministers know her too well. The Orb representative would make it to work with a lethal fever or worse rather than take a day off.

Except for today.

Today Cagalli had woken up and for some reason or another had just said: "fuck it." She needed an escape and today was the day she took it. She didn't do anything-extraordinary really, just put on pair of shades and went to see a movie. After that she went back to bed and caught up on what seemed like a hundred or so hours of lost sleep. And then she put on a fancy headscarf and some fake glasses and decided to check out a local bar.

And that's where she is now. She's been drinking sake for the past hour or so and she's so close to the bottle that she'd drink right out of it if it weren't for the cute guy serving her. She kind of wishes they had champagne though, because being raised rich, it's her favorite drink in the world.

"You're drinking a lot," says the sudden and mocking voice of some guy. He's a new guy, tan and blond and obviously a player. If this was a normal occasion, Cagalli would just botch-slap the guy and be on her way, but tonight she doesn't have the energy. Besides, in her half-drunk state, the idea of a steamy one-night stand is starting to sound like fun…

"What do you care?" she asks the newcomer with a sly smile; she's not going to give it too him that easily.

"I just happened to notice, that's all," replies the stranger. The blonde girl rolls her carefully hidden eyes; he's an arrogant one, he is. "I find that women are more fun to be with once they've had a glass or two."

"What? You're not even going to try to hide your true intentions from me?" demands Cagalli, trying to sound flirty but in the end it comes out as just plain shock.

"There's no need," replies the young man, "you seem pretty willing."

"Am I really that desperate?" she mumbles, more to herself than the guy next to her. He doesn't seem to care though.

"Who knows?" he muses the way Miriallia's always told Cagalli player's muse, "Maybe you're just looking for an escape."

Damn. He's hit her straight where it hurt and now there's no going back; she's going to be joining him in bed tonight.

--

"Huh-huh" Cagalli's panting madly. There's in the middle of the act, she and her blonde and tan stranger that is, and he's no doubt figured out who she is by now. Even so, he hasn't mentioned it and the blonde girl's betting that he'll only bring it up when he's safely drinking beers with his buddies and swapping conquest stories.

She doesn't care though, as long he doesn't tell the media, she's ok with him knowing.

"Huh-huh" she's pants some more, harder this time. He's on top of her and doing as he pleases; it feels so liberating not to have to worry about anything for once, just to go with the flow without worrying about the consequences.

Well, there is one thing that's bugging Cagalli. It's not at the front of her mind right now, but she's worrying about it all right. She's doing it with a guy she knows nothing about and yes, it's liberating, but what if this becomes a habit? She can't allow that to happen -what would people think of their Head Representative if she spent her nights _sleeping around_?

"That's not going to happen," she whispers by accident. Her partner for the night doesn't notice, or if he does, he's too busy to ask. She's fine with that, in fact, Cagalli quite likes the idea of it. It's been a while since she's been able to say something without being interrogated about it.

"Huh-huh-huh!" their act is coming to its end and the blonde girl shining eyes roll back in her head. This is amazing! Wonderful! Magical!

And it's not going to happen again for a very long time.

--

When Cagalli wakes up the next morning, it's still dark outside. Her watch, the one her father gave her that she never takes off, reads 5:15 a.m. She really should get going. Slowly, she forces herself up and away from the warm bed sheets, only to be brought back down by her throbbing head.

Shit.

She drank too much sake last night, way too much. Looks like it's going to be another hellish day at work today. Crashing back down onto the mattress, Cagalli takes a look at her partner. He's sleeping blissfully, completely unaware of her struggles. For the first time since she came here, the blonde girl realizes that they're in his apartment and she has no clue where exactly that is.

She groans. She needs to get up, to at least look out the window. Maybe if she can find a street name she can call Kira and tell him to track her down with his special spidey-senses that find her wherever she goes.

"Mi-Milly…"mumbles her companion, surprising her. Milly? As in Miriallia Haww? No way…

Cagalli takes a closer look at the guy. Now that she's not so drunk, only hung over, his blonde hair and tan skin do seem somewhat familiar and she's pretty sure she's seen him before. If only she could figure out who he is.

But, whatever. It's not like knowing is going to change much. The Orb representative finally gets up and finds the window. She peers out and realizes she knows where she is and that she can easily get back home from here.

She dresses quickly, not giving much thought to her appearance; she can do that later. Later, they'll be people around to critique her every move, but right now, the streets are empty and there's no one. She tries to open the door but –_damn-_ it's locked. Glancing at the guy, she sighs knowing he's her only way out asides from the window (guys always hide there keys in places too complicated to even bother looking for them –or at least, that's what Kira and Athrun have taught her).

Eventually, after a lot of self-cheering, she wakes him up.

"I need your keys," she says flatly, not even bothering to act friendly. Why should she? It got her what she wanted last night, but now direct orders are more likely to work.

"Wh-what for?" comes the voice of her companion, slightly dazed and very sleepy.

"I have to leave."

"At _this_ time in the morning?"

"Urgh, yes."

The guy just stares at Cagalli for a moment, but then he steps out of bed and picks out his keys from inside his shoe, making the blonde girl squint. Thank god she didn't try looking for them. He unlocks the door and opens it for like a true gentleman.

Just before she leaves, Cagalli asks him: "just who are you anyways?" unable to help herself.

He smirks.

"Dearka Elsman," he says.

So that's why he seemed so familiar; he was the creep that Miriallia kept hanging around with at the end of the first war! Ok, so sure, he also served aboard the Archangel and he just happens to be Athrun's friend, but the blonde girl's first description is the one that sticks in her mind.

"I see," she replies a bit embarrassed. She's sort of gone against every single comforting word she told Milly after her break-up with the guy by sleeping with him. "Don't tell…you know, please," she asks of him, a guilty blush colouring her cheeks.

"As long as you don't either."

She nods. Why does it suddenly feel as if Cagalli's going to have to become an accomplice in getting Dearka and Miriallia back together?

Finally, she leaves mumbling a neutral "good-bye". Her shame won't let her admit it, but Cagalli's rather glad that her one night stand happened to be with Dearka, someone she has a history with, instead of a random stranger. She feels like less of a whore because of it.

A couple of hours later, Cagalli's back on the job and she simply cannot believe how crazy things went without her there yesterday. She's going to have to pay for her absence with three weeks of overtime now, and she's already regretting last night.

But still, it was a nice escape.

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**Review please!**


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